Birding and other distractions

Virtually a year to the day since I last went to Orlestone, the main objective being the same, to hopefully find Large Tortoiseshell. It was a lovely sunny day. The butterfly took some finding but eventually two were seen. One was high up on an oak tree, the other nearby though at head height. Unfortunately the latter individual had a chunk missing from one wing. Other butterflies seen were most commonly Brimstone, also Peacock and a Comma. Shortly after my arrival I heard a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, the kee-kee-kee song. However, I couldn't see the bird despite scanning the tree tops. Large Tortoiseshell  Faggs Wood, the butterflies being seen in this ride, on the right hand side.

A mild day with glimpses of sunshine, and dry for a change. The visit started well with the sighting of a Red Kite, my first at Bredhurst and long overdue. It flew south then veered east over the woods. PV was fairly quiet apart from a pair of Marsh Tits, while there was a very showy Goldcrest near the stile in DV.  I found the first adder of the year in TF, as expected a male at this time of year. I generally find the first one before the end of February though this is probably the earliest ever at the site. On the walk back a male Greenfinch posed well near the churchyard, prior to washing in a puddle. Soon after there were two singing males in the churchyard, hopefully potential breeding birds in the area. Marsh Tit Goldcrest  Male Adder  Greenfinch male 

A dry day at last, also calm though with little sign of the sun. Starting at Walland there was a very nice gathering of geese on the marsh just south of the Woolpack Inn. In amongst the Greylags were approximately 20 White-fronted Geese, four Tundra Bean, three Pink-feet and a single Barnacle Goose. After about 15 minutes the whole flock flew off, possibly flushed by a low-flying plane. Heading further into the marsh we stopped near Midley Cottages, where about 20 Tree Sparrows were present in loose groups along the roadside. Other birds seen there included two Yellowhammers and several Chaffinch, a male of which was singing now and then. A flock of c40 Bewick's Swans remained along Ashentree Lane, though they were fairly distant. On a flooded area closer to the road a collection of Black-headed and Common gulls also included four adult Mediterranean. A visit to the RSPB reserve revealed relatively few birds on Burrows, notably with smaller numbers of gulls than expected. However, ...

It was raining this morning so I waited until midday before leaving home, by which time the rain had eased. We started at Stodmarsh in the Reedbed hide from which very good views of Shoveler were possible, plus nine Snipe and briefly, a Green Sandpiper. From there we went to Grove Ferry, the main objective being to check the harrier roost towards the end of the day. In this respect arriving at 2:45 was perhaps a bit early so first checked the Feast Hide and surprisingly saw a male Hen Harrier at 3:15 which flew over the back of the reedbed. It then landed in the reedbed and presumably went to roost as the bird did not reappear. After that we transferred to the ramp to look for more harriers, though the next HH did not appear until 4:30. It was a ringtail, which promptly landed in the reedbed beyond the Feast Hide. The final HH was another male, rather late at 4:55 as by this time it was getting dark. This bird was closer than the previous two and briefly circled the reedbed before divi...

It's been a long time since my unfortunate dip of Killdeer in Anglesey (1994) so yesterday's news that one had been found at Ripley Farm in Hampshire was clearly of great interest! I waited for news this morning then set off, encountering the usual delays on the M25 in a journey that took 2.5 hours. The weather en-route was generally wet though had stopped raining on arrival near the farm. The bird was present on the far bank of the farm reservoir, and I was fortunate to see it through the 'scope soon after reaching the site. However, the view was distant so I walked a bit further on from where most of the birders were watching. Even so the Killdeer was still 2-300 metres away and was now facing away with just the top of it's head being visible. It stayed like that for the best part of an hour before walking along the grassy strip along the back of the reservoir and giving satisfactory views. There were many wildfowl on the reservoir, mostly Wigeon and Shoveler. Also pr...

A fairly brief visit to the fields west of Plain Road, Marden. The area encompasses four fields of set-aside with a tall hedgerow running through the middle in an east-west direction. Birds seen were generally similar to those on my visit last November. Y ellowhammers were again the highlight, about 40 being seen mostly in the NE corner of the area. A large flock of Linnet of about  100 birds was present. When not feeding in the fields they would sit in the tops of tall trees together with some 20 or so Chaffinch. Small numbers of Goldfinch and three Reed Bunting were also seen, plus a few winter thrushes which included one Fieldfare. Two Kestrel had a scrap on the ground in one of the fields, making a lot of noise in the process and I feared for the well-being of one of the birds. Yellowhammers